Edited by Sudipta Rout, Collin Hollingsead
Abstract
The United States has long resisted the authority of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Still, its imposition of sanctions against ICC officials following the ICC’s issuance of arrest warrants for Israeli leaders marks an unprecedented escalation. These sanctions violate customary international law, infringe judicial independence, and undermine the sovereignty of ICC member states. This article argues that U.S. coercive sanctions constitute unlawful extraterritorial interference and threaten the legitimacy of global accountability mechanisms. While scholars have critiqued U.S.-ICC relations, existing literature insufficiently addresses the legal ramifications of retaliatory sanctions under the Vienna Convention, the UN Charter, and ICJ precedent. This paper fills that gap by examining the legality of the sanctions, their impact on multilateral legal institutions, and the risks of normalizing coercion against international judicial bodies. Through doctrinal analysis, case law, and comparative treaty interpretation, it proposes concrete legal reforms: expansion of EU blocking statutes, domestic criminalization of interference, and codification of anti-coercion principles in multilateral treaties. The article ultimately calls for renewed international commitment to judicial independence as essential to preserving the post-war legal order and ensuring accountability for crimes that shock the conscience of humanity.
